On Wednesday or Thursday [always hard to tell from here in Europe], the US Supreme Court decided that Washington D.C.’s ban on Handguns (not rifles, mind you), violated the rights of the citizen to “keep and bear arms”. You can read about it here. According to the 5 to 4 majority, “Self Defense” was a primary factor in the decision.
My Question:
Now that I can legally defend myself, must I continue to pay for the Police that do not, will not, and can not defend me? And to take it a logical step further, can I set out to defend myself against such things as a severe and potentially life-threatening encroachment upon my liberties by a Court that views the Government as “Infallible”? Am I to use my newly affirmed right to Self-Defense against those who would spy on me, search my home without a warrant, harass my friends, family, business associates, and merchants with “National Security Letters”?
Just how far does my right to defend myself go? And – I want shoulder fired missiles to use against the Police Helicopters that invade my neighborhood (when I live in DC) daily and nightly.
You see, I contend that when the Constitution was written, there was little formal “law-enforcement”. That being the case, a well-regulated militia (e.g. police that couldn’t just barge in without a judge’s warrant, restrictions in general against the militia) was required in situations where the standard one-man constable wasn’t able to enforce the laws without the help of “deputized” citizens.
Now, don’t get me wrong – I like guns. I like to shoot guns, i like the way the look, the mechanics, the physics, all that. What I don’t like is the failure of this court to recognize that the purposes of the 2nd amendment was to defend against the government and bands of criminals preying on the citizenry. The latter category includes corporations who refuse to recognize the rights of their workers and violate them without recourse to a law. Remember, here, that the US Government is a body Incorporated with the blessings of the people who make it up.
There’s a problem with that last sentence, however, and that is: No one alive today had anything to do with the Making of The U.S. Government, which raises the question of legitimacy.